Mr. and Mrs. Klokkenga are both teachers here at West. What most people don’t know about them though, is that they are currently fostering a child, an 8-month-old boy named Nico.

Mrs. Klokkenga said that they contemplated fostering a child for about six months, and the reason they even thought about it is because of Vale Church. Vale sponsored an event where volunteers would fill ‘journey bags’, a blanket, stuffed animals, toothbrush, and other necessities.

Mrs. Klokkenga said, “After filling the journey bags, I felt the Holy Spirit move in me. I tried to ignore the feeling, but God had blessed me with family and I felt obligated to foster.” The bags were for children who would be removed from their houses in the middle of the night by Children’s Services.

It was a long process for the Klokkengas to complete the requirements they needed to foster a child. First, they had to take classes (on Saturday’s ), which lasted about six weeks in total.

After the classes they had to be surveyed so the fostering system knew that they would be reliable parents, and they had to get their house appliances checked (heating and cooling systems), their pets had to be checked (to make sure they had up-to-date vaccinations). All of this was done in order to ensure the child’s safety.

Since fostering Nico, Mrs. Klokkenga says that the atmosphere of their house has changed for the better. “He is a fun, happy baby,” she said. Mr.Klokkenga said, “Now that we have three kids instead of two we have to make sure that we are always prepared, if we go to a restaurant we have to make sure we have his diaper bag and all of the essentials he needs.”